Teenage star talks to FIFA about Paraguay’s blazing start to Colombia 2024, where her awards go and Caicedo comparisons.
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Paraguay made a winning start at Colombia 2024, downing Morocco 2-0
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Fatima Acosta was the team’s talisman, scoring both goals
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Teenage starlet has earned comparisons to Linda Caicedo
In a section containing the defending champions, as well as the joint-most successful nation in the tournament’s history, Paraguay weren’t supposed to be sitting atop their group at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™.
Granted, it’s only after one round of matches have been completed and they’re only top on goal difference but it’s a screenshot worth saving for a side that, heading into Colombia 2024, had lost five of the six matches they’d played at the tournament.
Having started with an eye-catching 2-0 win against debutants Morocco, though, Paraguay will be full of belief that they can snatch points off Spain in their second group outing to put one foot firmly through the door marked second round.
The driving force behind that impressive first-up win was the diminutive Fatima Acosta. The 19-year-old, on the books of Brazilian club Sao Paulo, scored both goals to enhance her burgeoning reputation as one of the deadliest young finishers in South America.
Unsurprisingly, that star turn earned the teenage forward Player of the Match honours and when FIFA spoke with her after the win, she was still grasping the plaque but not for much longer, as she explained.
“It’s beautiful, I really like it but I’m not sure what to do with it so I’ll take it to my grandparents’ house. They can take care of it; definitely they’ll know what to do with it!”
If Acosta’s career continues at the dizzying pace with which it’s begun, her grandparents may soon need to upgrade to a bigger house. Joint top-scorer at this year’s South American Under-20 Women’s Football Championship, she was a major reason why Paraguay qualified for the U-20 Women’s World Cup for just the third time in their history.
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Having transferred that continental form onto the global stage she’s now emerged not just as Paraguay’s talisman but also as one of the most exciting talents at the tournament. So much so that she’s already started to garner comparisons to the face of Colombia 2024, Linda Caicedo.
The comparisons flow though her influence on a match, the ability to elevate her team’s overall level, a distilled, pure, technique and right the way down to the braces both wore at a similar age and the lowered socks they prefer.
When those thoughts are put to the teenage starlet, she shuffles uncomfortably before expressing her admiration for the Real Madrid star.
“Oh, I don’t know what to say. I have so much respect for Linda, she’s such a great player and I admire her so much. To be compared to her is something incredible because I just respect her so much both as a player and she’s also a great character off the pitch.”
With the second-placed nations in their respective groups crossing over in the round of 16, it’s not impossible that the ‘new Linda’ could come face-to-face with the actual Linda. Before then, though, there’s two massive challenges that await with Paraguay facing Spain and then USA.
As daunting a task as that is, it’s a challenge which Acosta and her team-mates are embracing, as she told FIFA.
“We know the quality that the other nations in the group [Spain and USA] possess so it was really important to start on the right foot [with a win against Morocco].”
“The plan is simply to take things step-by-step and we believe that we can be successful, we will never stop fighting and competing. We can promise that we won’t leave anything out on the field.”
